Waking early in Calais the first day to rain and 14°C, the only cheery moment was the diesel at €1.30 a litre at Total on the industrial estate. Cab heating on, we headed south to another favourite overnight stop at Sainte-Maurie-de-Touraine just south of Tours. Lunch stop was at Gacé, a really pretty little town just of the A28 north of Alençon. We ate at the Hotel L’Etoile d’Or in Grand Rue were the initially offhand waitress trying to understand our Franglais became really friendly and practiced her English on us.

Around three in the afternoon the weather suddenly changed and by the time we reached Sainte-Maurie-de-Touraine the temperature was up to 28°C. This Camping Municipal has been a pleasant €6 a night stop over in previous years, but this year it increased to €11.70 for the night! Another price increase, BTW, diesel on the motorway was as high as €1.47.

Heading south, day two, the air temperature climbed steadily. By pure fluke we turned off the N10 at La Garde just before Bordeaux, the same village we stopped at last year so revisited Chez Roger for lunch. Good food and good, in a French context, value at €24 including wine and soft drinks. We arrive at scorching Camping Les Acacias late afternoon. 38°C outside, 45°C in the van. The weather over the next couple of days was quite mixed, a little rain overnight but we managed to get on the beach for three days and did a fair amount of cycling using the extensive cycle paths in the area. Les Acacias has free WiFi this year.

It was then time to head north for a few days exploring before crossing to Royan.  We drove up to the north side of the Bassin d’Arcachon stopping for an excellent lunch at the Hotel du Centre in Parentis then parked for half an hour at Taussat to take some photos. We tried camping Municipal at Le Porge Ocean but there seemed little to do outside of the site so we continued to Lacanau-Ocean, tried the Airotel and Yelloh sites but both were full, then a scruffy Aire at Le Mouchic which was occupied by mostly New Age type travellers with lots of dogs. We finished up staying at Le Huga, an Aire that is on the D6 just outside of Lacanau-Ocean. Quite a good setting, a little far from anything within walking distance but good cycle paths to Lacanau. This Aire is more like an automated campsite, split into two areas, well kept, but the facilities a little overworked. Pay €11, by credit card only, at a machine, use the supplied code to gain access and select a pitch. A large proprtion of the numbered pitches have electric hookup and water. Surprisingly quiet in the larger wooded section except when the coastguard helicopter lands or takes off just behind the Aire. Fresh bread was available in the morning from a youth on a bicycle cart.

Our next destination was the Medoc area surrounding Pauillac.  Our plan was to try to do a vineyard tour but there are so many chateau to choose from within a few kilometres of the town we decided to see if the Tourist and Wine information bureau on Pauillac Quay could point us in the right direction. The really helpful staff provided maps and books with a couple of suggestions for English language tours starting early afternoon. With an hour or so to kill we had lunch at the very good Restaurant le Sainte Martin facing the Gironde. The “formula” menu proving to be a winner again. It was a five minute drive to the impressive Chateau Pichon Longueville. The one hour tour, for groups up to twenty at €6 each, detailed the long family history of wine making on this domaine, but more recently purchased by Axa insurance. The immaculately kept property is unusual as virtually all the process is carried out underground, under the front lawn of the chateau. After the tour we headed north to Soulac-sur-Mer on the Atlantic side of the peninsular to find a pitch for two nights prior to taking the ferry to Royan on Saturday. Anneli identified three or four sites to try, the first, Camping Le Palace had pitches available, 400 metres from the beach. Sold. It’s a big site, a mixture of statics and touring pitches with two pools, free WiFi and all the entertainment expected of a French family site. We chose a generous sized pitch with fresh water supply right at the far end backing on to the forest. The toilet blocks are a little dated. Following a hot hour or so of exploring the site, beach and surrounding roads we opted for a pleasant and reasonably priced meal at the campsite restaurant then retired to the van to watch a film. Overnight we had heavy rain and hail storms which cleared mostly by breakfast the following day but not warm enough to catch rays on the beach, so we opted to cycle into Soulac Centre Ville to check out the shops and have lunch. We found a new Aire just around the corner from our site on the way back. The entrance on the right, heading south out of town on the Boulevard De L’Amelie towards l’Amelie just before Camping Les Sables d’Argent next to a small football complex with stand. We did a swift check out on the bikes; the Aire backs on to the beach and has around thirty-five numbered spaces with a service point at the entrance. It appeared to be free.

The site is relatively new, the focal point being an oak framed barn style building with bar, restaurant, shop and amenities all under one roof. The majority of pitches, about forty five, are hard standing with electricity, water and waste included then a raised grass area overlooking the barn with about fifteen generous sized grass pitches mostly with similar facilities as the hard standing areas. Through a gate there is a tent field also. This is a adults only site.

The excellent toilets and showers are all in the main building, with three wet rooms for showering in both the men’s and ladies. There could be a little congestion here at some times of the day but we had no problems during our visit. We had great Freeview TV and Orange phone signal at the top of the site, Orange 3G was slow though with no signal near the main building. WiFi signal all over the site at £5 for twenty four hours. 

On Saturday, the weather turned out to be less than good with high winds and lots of dark clouds. Looking forward to the award winning dining experience in the evening we arrived at the bar for pre diner drinks checked out the menu and went for the dish of the day, rib of beef. Disappointing was the only way to describe the food, the beef was less meat than grissle, which was changed without any problem but still was not brilliant. Another couple, Sylvia and Mike on an adjoining table had a similar experience and the dish was withdrawn from the menu. The following cheese board however was excellent with local cheeses and home baked biscuits. The waiting staff were very good with just the right amount of friendliness and attention. The final bill was quite expensive and although on another visit we were sure that the experience would have been better,we would rate the evening as four out of ten.

On Sunday we tried Ten Pin Bowling at the adjacent Lakeside Lodge Golf course. A pleasant club house with a good selection of beers at the bar, we had the bowling alley to ourselves. The food and wines available here looked good value and the menus had a good selection of bar snacks and meals. We will certainly be here on our next visit to Stroud Hill.

After losing the bowling to my dear wife we started walking to Pidley village set in what must be the flattest part of England but well known for it’s Mountain Rescue Team. Please follow the link as they are a lot more interesting than first impressions.  The wind was so strong we decided to return to the comfort of our Hymer. We will explore Pidley on our next trip as  The Mad Cat needs to be investigated as we have heard the food is good there and of passing interest there is Pidley Paint Ball just along the road.

Holiday Monday was more overcast than the weekend so we packed up quickly and had Brunch at the Lakeside. We only had bar snacks but the food was fresh. Will definitely return.

In summary. A great site, very peaceful with good facilities, we were unlucky with the restaurant but look forward to returning with perhaps a little better weather..

We took our favoured late evening ferry to Calais travelling on the new super size P & O Spirit of Britain and parked on the marina quay overnight as the Aire was full. The parking meter installed last year had been removed; just the support posts remained so we saved €8 here. (update, see the end of this post).

Good Friday we left early for Paris after tanking with diesel at marginally cheaper than UK prices. We reached the Peripherique about two and a half hours later finding it jammed with holiday traffic. My Nokia sat nav did a good job of handling the final approach if I had followed it in detail but after around a fifteen minute detour to get back on course, we were directed to the campsite via a height restricted park entrance. After another thirty minutes of heated discussion I was eventually persuaded to follow the signposts to the campsite.

The reception at Camping Paris-Est at Champigny Sur Marne was by far the best we have received so far on our motor home travels. Bruno gave us maps and timetables for buses and trains to Paris tourist sites with hints and tips. We purchased three day train and bus passes for just €20 each which we thought was great value.  The site is large with a mix of hardstanding and grass pitches for tourers, cabins and statics. surprisingly for Easter, only about a quarter of the site was occupied. There is a bar and food available during high season but not open during our stay. There are three amenity blocks on site but only two were partially open. This is quite a tranquil site, there is traffic noise from the adjacent motorway but this did not bother us. This campsite changed its name to Camping Champigny just after our visit.

This is an ideal location for motorhome and caravan visitors to Paris as it is so easy to travel to the centre of Paris. The 101 bus stops at the site entrance and is a ten minute ride to Joinville-le-Pont RER station. Five stops and fifteen minutes later you are in the centre of Paris. The local shops and restaurants are about ten minutes walk or two minutes on the bus.

Paris was great. We managed over the three days to visit, the Opera, Arc de Triomphe, walk the Champs Elysees, visit the Sacre Coeur and Montmartre, Pigalle, the Eiffel tower, took a river boat to Notre Dame, walked through the Louvre to the Pyramid and visit Les Halles and many more places in between. Pretty sore feet.

After the fourth night we headed north towards Amsterdam, stopping en route at Camping Blaarmeersen at Gent, Belgium. The site is situated in a large sportpark on the outskirts of the city. Pleasantly landscaped, the friendly reception staff directed us to our allocated pitch in a spacious area for around ten tourers, each with hardstanding tracks. The amenity block was fair and the service point adjacent. We checked out the bar which also serves food to eat in or take away. The service was brusque to say the least. I cycled around the really impressive park later in the evening. The lake has a beach with waterslides and cafe. There are running trails and virtually every possible popular sport you can think of including an indoor velodrome and a BMX track. The site despite being surrounded by trees and parkland suffers from traffic noise, more so than the Paris site which is next to the motorway. The residents were not so quiet either.

The next day after negotiating the Antwerp ring road we crossed into Holland. Lunch stop was the excellent cafe restaurant Breuren in the main square at Woerden. Mid afternoon we arrived at Camping Zeeburg on the east side of Amsterdam city. It’s a busy site, on virtually a narrow island with a mix of tourers, tents and huts next to the water including a sandy beach about ten metres wide. Fresh water for the van at the the service point is 50c for sixty litres. The amenity blocks are reasonable but not always clean. There is no indication that the showers are token operated until you are in the cubicle. The tokens are purchased from the very busy reception for 80c. This reception staff were always polite and friendly despite the numbers of people they were handling. The shop was well stocked, fresh bread and pastries baked on the premises and food was available at the popular bar. At reception we purchased a great value two day GVB train, bus and tram pass for €11.50. Even better value than Paris. A short walk across a bridge near the site entrance takes you to the Flevopark tram terminal were the number 7 or 14 trams take you into the city centre.

We were not aware that the coming weekend was a great celebration in the Netherlands. Koninginnedag, Queens Day, bigger than Hogmanay in Scotland, so there we even more people in the city than usual and through Thursday and Friday, the city was decked out in more and more orange decorations for the celebrations. I love Amsterdam but it was very busy. My favourite way to see the sights is by boat. We took a trip on the Blue Boat Company tour from near the Casino, Hard Rock Cafe. The tour was hosted by an ex DJ and his commentary was accompanied by well chosen music tracks to suit the topics. Probably the best tour we have ever taken. This is a link to a video of the tours.

Prior to the canal tour we lunched at the Hard Rock Cafe. Not something planned but we were desperate to eat and it was convenient. We now know that our very disappointing visit to the Stockholm Cafe last year was not a one off. Amsterdam has the same mediocre food and outrageous prices.

On our last day Anneli suggested we cycle into the city, which was a great idea as we saw a great deal more in a shorter time. It was actually easier cycle around the city centre than walk.

On Saturday, Queens day we left Amsterdam for a leisurely drive back to Calais for a Sunday sailing. We had an idea to stop overnight at maybe Bruges, then we thought Dunkerque but we ended up in Calais but stopped for lunch at the site in Gent we used on the way up. A completely different team working in the restaurant made us feels very welcome.

We know Calais quite well now. We parked on the Marina dock again and headed into the town square. A couple of bars we knew had closed and we ended up in a seafront bar with a few locals and some people from the Aire.

When we returned to the van, we had a parking ticket reminder on the windscreen and the official that issued it came over and relieved us of €7 for a twenty four hour stay.

We travelled just over 900 miles (1440 kilometers) and the only tank full of diesel that I could work out a consumption figure from was an average 20 mpg. The new shock absorbers really made a difference particularly stability on the motorways. (see previous post).

A few vehicles I have owned over the years, new and old, have had much improved ride and handling after changing the shock absorbers with either stock or up rated units. I have had this improvement on my list of to do items for some while so with another year of touring planned I decided to change them.

Instead of replacing with stock parts I first ordered a pair of Monroe gas units for the rear axle. My logic was that I had used these on new cars with great results and for the Mercedes they are really easy to change the rears yourself without having to raise the vehicle. It took about two hours to fit them. The offside unit was fitted in around twenty minutes but the nearside was not so straight forward as the grey water tank is located very close to the shock absorber top mount which hampered removing the retaining bolt. The improvement was immediately obvious stepping into the van through the rear habitation door, you was immediately obvious with less sway from the back, less crashing over potholes and improved cornering.  With the worthwhile improvement on the rear axle I ordered the front struts and arranged their fitting at my local garage.

The overall improvement to handling and ride is excellent. From a standing start the vehicle moves of the line without hesitation, jarring over potholes and noise on rough surfaces is reduced and straight line tracking on the motorway is improved with greatly reduced sway from side winds or when passing lorries. The most annoying double bounce from the front suspension, exaggerated further with bikes on the rear carrier has also been eliminated.

The replacement units are Monroe Van Magnums purchased online from the Monroeshop. A good website, with next day delivery. At point of order, one of the front struts was out of stock but I received an email after a couple of days to inform me that it had arriving and delivery was next day. Although the front struts are a possible DIY job, I had my local garage, Rowland Ridgewell fit them as I did not have the time or a secure jack to complete the job before our Easter trip.

The total cost was just under £400.

Swanage looked like a good location and we found a couple of sites that are within walking distance of the town centre. The Ulwell Cottage Park did not have a pitch for seven continuous nights so we booked the Herston Caravan and Campsite.

So on Monday 27^th December we left home for the two and a half hour drive from Stansted to Swanage. Some six hours later we arrived at the site after spending most of the time in an almost continuous traffic jam from Potters Bar on the M25 to Basingstoke on the M3. We even had to queue to get into Hook services on the M3 to top up with LPG as all our local outlets were out of gas due to the weather conditions.

On checking in at Herston we were allocated a pitch that was not quite long enough for our Hymer and next to a gateway to a residential area of the site. With a little negotiation we hooked up on a more suitable one. Herston is a mixture of residential statics, a few full-timers, touring, tents and Yurts to rent. Few people were at the site the day we arrived but the bar was open and the staff very friendly. The toilet and shower block was well heated fortunately and always clean. Food was available at the bar when more people arrived running up to the New Year. By New Years Eve the site was full and there was music and entertainment for the evening.

For the first few days of our stay we explored Swanage, either a leisurely twenty-five minute walk into town or using the excellent Swanage Railway. Just a five-minute walk down the lane from the campsite is Herston Halt, which is the first “station” out from Swanage. The novelty for me as a regular user of the Stansted to Liverpool Street Express is you have to wave down an approaching train to get it to stop. We used the train a few times to either travel to Swanage or Corfe Castle. In the spirit of the holiday season, the carriages and Swanage Station were decked out with Christmas decorations.

Swanage town centre is quite small; we presumed that serious shopping would be carried out at Poole so it is pleasantly free of the national chain shops. Curiosity gift shop in the High Street is worth a visit if that’s your thing. Packed full of the most useless things you never needed, but priced so much lower than most tourist traps. We had lunch and evening meals at The White Horse, pretty average, a couple of times at The Anchor Inn, pretty good and Tawny’s, very good with a refreshingly different menu. We also walked by the Ulwell Cottage site which looked quite tidy, again a mixture of statics and tourers, a shop, bar and restaurant on site. The walk to town from here is down the main road from Studland and there is a bus stop within a minutes walk.

There is not a great deal to see at Corfe Castle, particularly in the misty conditions during our visit. A National Trust run village, there is a rather good bakers a NT gift shop and a few pubs and coffee houses. The castle of course has great views when the weather is less inclement. A meal at the “most photographed pub in England”, go there and you will see why, The Greyhound was excellent. The pubs website is worth a visit just to see the animated page header.

We did venture out in the van a couple of times, to visit Monkey World and the Tank Museum at Bovington. The day we visited Monkey World was quite cold and being outdoors all day warm clothing was essential. The bonus for visiting at this quieter time of year is you have a lot more chance to see and observe the primates without the crowds. This was a great day out, highly recommended. Now I am not much of a warfare fan but the Tank Museum was pretty impressive. Following a recent £16m pound refurbishment the presentation is of similarly high standard to another of our favourites, Duxford. Again we had the place pretty much to ourselves. One highlight for me was hearing a tank starting up in one of the halls. Although I could not smell exhaust smoke it was fairly close to where I was standing, turning a corner I was surprised to a 1/6^th scale radio controlled Tiger tank being demonstrated. Made by Armortek these models are superbly detailed, made out of machined and cast metal and have an optional sound system that reproduces the motor and mechanical noise of the real thing. A well specced up model retails for £3k plus. I’m told I can’t have one. BTW, by signing a Gift Aid form your entry ticket can be used for further free visits for up to twelve months. During busier periods they hold many outdoor events here.On the way to the Tank Museum we stopped by Lulworth Cove for a quick look around and lunch. A lovely spot and The Lulworth Cove Inn had just started serving their great value Carvery Roast Lunch.

All too quickly our seven-day stay was over, the return trip home only took just under three hours.

On Wednesday we headed for the next destination on our itinerary, Amboise. I had stayed here when a child, long memory, remembering the site was on an island in the Loire close to the Chateau. We found Camping de I’lle d’Or with little trouble and checked in for two nights. The town is charming by day and by night and touring the very well maintained Chateau and gardens on Thursday we were surprised to find the tomb of Leonardo de Vinci in the small chapel. We ate the first night at L’Amboiserie in Place Michel Debre just outside the Chateau wall. The food was good but they obviously catered for large touring parties as we, together with another two couples, were seated in a small corner of the roof terrace out of the way. The following evening we had a pavement table at Restaurant La Florentine just across the road and had brilliant service and great food and a great deal of people watching.

On Friday we started our journey back to Calais. We found a site at Le Bec Hellouin, set on top of a hill over the village. Camping Saint Nicholas (Alan Rogers guide) was welcoming and peaceful. Before checking in we had lunch at a rather strange restaurant in the very picturesque and photogenic village. The atmosphere and decor was very 1940’s and the food fairly ordinary. The village was so interesting and area so quiet I cycled back early evening to explore further and take some photos. On a longer visit there is an Abbey to explore. Next morning we continued the trip back towards Calais. Hardelot Plage was our destination. We had passed through briefly last year and thought it worth a closer look. Something was definitely happening this weekend at Hardelot; we drove around looking for a site but eventually parked up in an Aire close to the sea front. Out on my bike I soon found that the roads were being closed off for a running event and within a couple of hours the town was bursting with cars and people arriving to take part in various distance running races for both adults and children. A quiet night’s sleep considering the Aire was really just parking down both sides of a street.

Sunday morning we left on the final leg of our journey to Calais. We wine shopped at InterMarche, Hardelot then had a leisurely drive to Calais, tanked to the brim with cheap diesel, lunched, then boarded the ferry and were home by 7.00pm.

The Hymer performed without fault, we travelled 1,856 miles door to door and I don’t even want to work out the mpg.

Ok, where to next?

So, on the evening of Thursday 19th August we left for Dover, enjoying a really good trip to the port and caught the 22.15 sailing to Calais. We were the second vehicle to disembark then drove around to the Plage Aire and managed to secure one of the last places available. Not a good night’s sleep, we agreed to go back to the marina car park next time, it’s a little quieter. We breakfasted at the Total service station on Z.I Marcel Doret after tanking up with diesel at 90p a litre.

We left around 9.30 am. for our first stopover at Sainte-Maure-De-Touraine just south of Tours. We lunched and shopped at Bernay close to the E402 between Rouen and Le Mans. A pretty town that has integrated modern architecture with its medieval heritage. Here we found that the square warning panel with stripes that is required for Spain when using the bike carrier had gone missing. As luck would have it, probably the only caravan accessory shop I have seen in France was the last building out of town as we left and had some off the shelf. 

Diesel up again at Château du Loire north of Tours and made a bad navigation error adding thirty minutes to our arrival time at the Camping Municipal at Sainte-Maure-De-Touraine. Considering the mediocre weather in England the week before leaving, today had been blue sky and sunshine since dawn. Temperatures in the van had been in the late 30′s most of the day and we arrived exhausted. We stayed at this site last year, very quiet and some level sheltered pitches, ideal for a stopover. The evening entertainment was provided by a hot air balloon flight which took off from the adjacent sports field.

Saturday morning we left fairly early for our next overnighter at Castets on the N10/E70 south of Bordeaux close to Dax. We encountered our first traffic problem on the south Bordeaux ring road, volume of traffic seemed to be the cause, which delay us by about forty five minutes. Camping Municipal Le Galan is the only listed site I could find on this main route to Bayonne and the Spanish border. Not even an Aire is listed although there are plenty on the Atlantic coast road which runs roughly parallel to the Auto route about fifteen kilometres to the west. The site turned  out to be really good. We were allocated a pitch with shade as the temperature today had been in the low 40°s. A slow walk back into town for a meal and then we retired fairly early to the sound of a bingo caller in the sports hall next to the site.

We woke to sunshine again and tried to make an early start, for us, to miss the rising temperatures later in the day. More diesel and supplies at InterMarche and we were on the road by 10. The N10 was good for our fuel consumption, very flat long straight sections with little wind and the cruise control set at 100 kph. We had a short delay at a police roadblock near the Spanish border but made good time on the mostly smooth E70 motorway through the mountains arriving in dull overcast weather at Camping Playa Joyel near Noja around one o’clock.

Checking in was smooth and we selected a north facing pitch with some shade and close enough to the amenity block. The pitch sizes are about eight by eight meters so are a little snug for our van. We moored up and plugged in then went off for lunch, completely forgetting to tank up with fresh water before pitching. I didn’t want to move the van as it took some manoeuvring to get it straight and level on the pitch. The water became a bit of a chore during our stay with regular top ups using five litre containers, the nearest tap being about twice the distance as the length of our hose.

Playa Joel is a busy and popular site. A large number of plots seem to become the family home for several weeks and it’s the first time we had seen kitchen tents matching the awnings. All the facilities on site were well looked after and the toilet blocks seemed to be cleaned several times a day. The supermarket was well stocked and fresh bread and pastries were available from early morning. The bar and cafeteria was reasonably priced, the service good and the good value  menu very similar to most of the others in the area. We did not use the pool as the beach was less than five minutes from our pitch. We really enjoyed our stay at Playa Joyel with only two negatives. The weather seems to be unpredictable. Blue skies and brilliant sunshine alternating with heavy cloudy days, torrential rain one evening and high winds one day. We were told this was normal for the area. The other thing we found odd was in this area there are a large number of bars and “Cafeteria” type eateries serving snacks but hardly any restaurants that you could have a proper meal in the evening. Twice we dined at an Italian restaurant which was full both evenings from the seven o’clock opening time. After seven nights we headed back to French Atlantic coast.

Saturday was spent sunbathing then a late afternoon walk along the cliff path to West Runton. We checked out the menu at the Pepperpot Restaurant and had a couple of drinks at the Village Inn before returning to Woodhill for a barbeque dinner. Sunday more sunbathing then watched England lose to Germany (again) before trying the Pepperpot.  A friendly welcome, French style menu but quite old school cooking, my steak was just visible above the gravy sauce and overpriced. We enjoyed ourselves though and had a very pleasant walk along the cliff path home watching the sunset. The site was quite empty now, many left Sunday morning and there were even less on Monday. We took advantage of the good weather and left around five in the evening. Woodhill have a checkout time of 10.00am which is a little early for us but they have a three nights for the price of two offer so we booked four nights and paid for three so we could stay all day Monday if that makes sense.

Our route on the way up avoided Norwich but was rather slow so we decided to return round the City ring road. Big mistake, a couple of break downs at key junctions delayed us by about thirty minutes but once on the A11 the journey home was a breeze.

Thursday morning was bright and sunny, the wind had dropped a little and we set off for our only booked destination of the weekend at Roz sur Couesnon near Mont St Michel. The drive was fairly uneventful but the high winds made progress along the motorways sometimes hard going and noisy. Musing on the journey, now whenever we see a speed limit sign with Rappel at the bottom we laugh after reading an old blog on Motorhomefacts where “Pusser” has taken this to be the euro speed measurement. Try http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopic-251.html. It’s worth registering if you cannot get access to the page.

We were the first visitors of the year to Camping Les Couesnons, at Roz sur Couesnons. The grass pitches were very soft and as no one else was expected that evening we parked on a gravel track between the pitches to avoid sinking. Magali the “patron” was really friendly and helpful and we enjoyed a very nice steak meal at her restaurant in the evening. As we were leaving Friday morning, a Belgian couple who had been checking out the pitches asked for help. They had bogged down their little Citroen and Eriba in the mud. After a fair amount of pulling and pushing the seemingly small and lightweight Eriba was eventually coaxed onto harder ground and our ever ready Milenco Grip Mats released the Citroen. A gift of Belgian beer from the happy couple saw us on our way to Mont St Michel, but feeling quite hungry, we ended up eating at a roadside restaurant just six kilometres down the road.

A most enjoyable couple of hours were spent exploring the Mont,€10 parking, €8.50 pp entrance to the Abbey,  then we headed off along the D797 coastal road towards  St Malo, Dinard and Dinan. At Cancale we had seen an Aire in the book but on arrival we found it almost full and €8 in coins needed to raise the barrier. No change as usual so we found a Super U market close by intending to shop and get change but they had Camping Car facilities in the car park. We decided to  stay the night here. The €8 Aire would have been OK as we found the next day, it was in easy walking distance of Cancale seafront which looked quite picturesque. We spent little time checking out St Malo and Dinard on Saturday morning stopping at Dinan for lunch and a wander around the old town taking snaps.  Again very picturesque and we had lunch of “Tartine” , open sandwich, in a very “Allo Allo” looking bar just off the main centre.

Returning to the van, checking out the map, and a list of places we had seen that were worth visiting, we decided to head for Carnac on the south coast. Two hours later we were in the very windy town centre of Carnac with not much to see. I checked out the Tourist Info office and was given a brochure of the area which included campsite info. The enclosed map quite clearly showed the “Alignements” , Stonehengy style stones just up the road. Quite interesting we found them, how did they line them all up?…but we needed to pitch for the night. Consulting the Alan Rogers guide we called a site at Quiberon and booked a pitch for the night. Quiberon, if you are not familiar, is at the end of a peninsular or spit which forms one side of the “Baie de Quiberon” about fifteen kilometres in length. Driving down the peninsula the wind to our right was blowing straight from the Atlantic and progress over 20 mph was decidedly dangerous. Camping Do Mi Si La Mi was delightful. Good sheltered pitch, good showers and a minutes’ walk to the beach. Would be perfect when the weather was a little warmer. Eating out was a bit limited, it was too early in the season for the site facilities so we walked about three kilometres towards the town where we found a friendly family run Italian restaurant La Strada not far from the Semaphore. Good food and good atmosphere.

Sunday morning we headed back towards the north coast. Easter Sunday is more of a closing day than other Sunday’s in the year. The only real problem we found was getting fuel. Many filling stations are closed and we found only the supermarket pay and pump stations are open. We nearly ran out of diesel at Fougeres, fortunately finding a Carrefour pay at the pump station on the ring road. For once the Visa card worked here and the pump instructions could be changed to English. We planning to stay the night at Pontorson south of St Michel then onward to Honfleur for Monday evening. We had driven through Pontorson to get to Mont St Michel and remembered that the main street seemed reasonably lively, so we arrived at Camping Haliotis on the edge of town late afternoon. Checked in by a delightful Dutch lady we had the pick of pitches. Haliotis is the best all-round site we have stayed at in our three visits to France. Everything looked spotless, fresh almost like a new site except that the landscaping was very mature. We went walkabout in the town early evening and had an excellent meal at Le Grillon in the main street.

So Easter Monday we headed for Honfleur, stopping at Avranches for lunch and a little walk about arriving at the large Honfleur Aire around four o’clock. We found a space but all electric points were taken. It was €8 for 24 hours here I think. Honfleur is a charming town, waterside, old buildings and many shops and restaurants. We ate at La Brasserie du Port in Rue de la Ville, good service but the food was a little ordinary, probably because it was a real touristy area. We do try to eat where it looks like the “locals” go and have really experienced great food in France. This also helps improve our very basic French when English speaking is not so common.

Tuesday we headed for Calais, stopping at Avranches for lunch at Le Valhubert, Rue De General de Gaulle. The only Camping Car in the car park was another B640 Starline of around the same vintage but coachbuilt. We reached Calais in good time for the sailing allowing us to brim the tank with diesel at €1.10 a litre, empty the Thetford at the Plage Aire and have a bite to eat in the holding area before boarding. We gave Majestic Wines a miss this trip as we had stocked up at Carrefour earlier with by two get one free offers.

Our first long distance trip in the Starline was a great success. The additional space, large shower heating and sofa makes for a luxury feel.  The high winds were not helping smooth passage down the motorways and a couple of tanks of diesel we were only averaging about 12 – 14mpg. Progress was very relaxed though when the wind dropped and we looked to be doing about 25-28 mpg for the last 100 miles home. We travelled 1150 miles in all. Although this was a holiday weekend, most areas, and particularly the camp sites were fairly quiet. We did not encounter anything like the volume of traffic in Brittany as we did in Normandy last Easter.

North Spain for the summer hols. Can’t wait.

Hymer 2 is longer and heavier than Hymer 1. We had RAC European breakdown and recovery bolted onto our insurance for £80 but the length of the new van was over their maximum so was not covered. I informally checked a couple of providers which were around £180. Not feeling too happy and a trip across the channel imminent I was getting a bit stressed. Idly browsing the forums on Motorhome Facts (if you’re not registered its well worth the subscription) I came across a thread on just this topic and checked out a suggested website called QuotelineDirect, keyed in all the details and was quoted £59 with Europ Assist.! I’ve checked the small print and the service offered and can find no difference in cover except a maximum of 90 days in Europe. Also the European cover does not take effect until ten days after the start of the policy, the day we leave. Result. Instant certificate and key facts downloaded as soon as the payment was accepted.

On Saturday we arranged to visit my parents in north London, so, eager to put some miles on the van before crossing to foreign soil we decided to drive down in it. Just before leaving for some reason the London Emission Zone came to mind so I quickly looked up the TfL website and found the handy Compliance Checker, typed in our registration number and there it was, “not compliant” or pay £100 for the day!. Sudden change of plan! We still saw the parents but went in the car. Ironically, Hymer 1 which is probably more of a polluter due to its age is exempt until October but the age and weight are the criteria for the compliance factor so at 3800kg we do not qualify for free entry.

This is not really a problem to us except when the NW section of the M25 is jammed we use the M11, North Circular and A13 to get to the Dartford Crossing. No more.

The LEZ is only for diesel vehicles BTW.

For Sunday I was pottering around the van, re-arranging stuff in the lockers, adjusting door catches etc etc as you do, when the sun shining through the rear window highlighted some marking in the laminate worktop by the sink. Now I have spent most of my working life in the fitted kitchen industry and have tried in recent years to avoid using or selling gloss laminate worksurfaces if at all possible because they scratch just looking at them. What is fitted in the B640? Lovely blue/black imitation marble look GLOSS laminate and this is why the marking was visible. I have on previous occasions had some success polishing scratches out of Perspex, rear screens on soft top cars and caravan windows using Brasso. Mmm, a can of Brasso to hand, I tried gentle polishing on the marks with a soft cotton tea towel. Some success, tried a little more, bigger success. So now I’m on a mission. I only had time to polish the tap deck and a hazy patch on the sink covers but the rear kitchen is looking rather smart, shiny and new.

Next week a small area around the hob and then the bar top.